Easy Recipe – Warm Bacon Mushroom Salad

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I don’t know about you, but my last couple of weeks leading into the holiday have been crazy busy. Between an extra business trip squeezed in before year end (where my flights were seriously delayed), trying to capitalize on the Uber holiday rush (yesterday was airport runs mingled with costumed revelers for a Santa pub crawl), and trying to finish (okay START) my holiday shopping, I have had to remind myself to eat healthy and not grab junk.

Yesterday I had an hour at home between my morning Uber runs and afternoon errands and whipped up this tasty warm bacon mushroom salad.

I liked it enough that it will go in the permanent rotation. And it was easy so I’m sharing it with you!

Warm Bacon Mushroom Salad

serves 2

Salad

4 slices thick cut bacon

1 shallot, minced

4 oz sliced mushrooms

4 oz spinach leaves (washed and spun/patted dry)

Dressing

4 T red wine vinegar (or any other wine-based vinegar you like)

1 T mustard (I like to use a whole grain one)

1/3 cup olive oil

Prepare dressing by combining the vinegar, mustard, and olive oil in a small bowl and whisk to emulsify. Set aside

Cook the bacon in a large pan until crispy. Remove from pan and immediately blot on paper towels. When cooled, break into small pieces and set aside.

Saute the shallot in the residual bacon grease – stir regularly to prevent sticking. When browned, add the sliced mushrooms, continuing to stir the mixture. When mushrooms are softened and browned remove the shallot/mushroom mixture from the pan and set aside.

Turn off heat to pan and add spinach, tossing with half of dressing. You should leave in only long enough to allow them to wilt from the heat.

Divide spinach greens between two bowls. Add shallot/mushroom mixture to top. Sprinkle with bacon. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with extra dressing on side (or reserve for future use).

This took about ten minutes to make from start to finish. It was a great entrée lunch salad but would also be a salad course for four at dinner.

Vegetarians could make this without the bacon and add extra mushrooms instead – use olive oil instead of the residual bacon grease to sauté the mushrooms.

Jennifer is a management consultant and avid volunteer. Her career and volunteer duty travels have helped her log top-tier airline and hotel status annually for the last eighteen years. In addition, she embraces the opportunity to maximize her vacation time by planning extracurricular trips that have taken her to over 60 countries and 48.5 US states. Although she averages 200 days a year on the road, she loves to return to “the homestead” in her native Fort Worth, Texas where she enjoys cooking, gardening, sewing, needlepoint, wine, and cocktail mixology.